Slytherin
by Silver Sailor Ganymede
Summary: What does it really mean, to be a Slytherin? Are the Slytherins as evil as many would claim they are? Why not take a look into some Slytherin's minds and find out? COMPLETE!
1. One: Salazar

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter. I do own any OC's.

Slytherin  
By Silver Sailor Ganymede

One: Salazar

Almost one millennia ago, four great sorcerers built the first school of Witchcraft and Wizardry that the world had ever seen.

The four founders of the school were Helga Hufflepuff, Godric Gryffindor, Rowena Ravenclaw and Salazar Slytherin. Each of the founders had preferences on the students accepted at this school, Hogwarts. Gryffindor wanted only the brave to be able to enter, while Ravenclaw wished for only the most intelligent students to be schooled. Slytherin was of the opinion that only students of pureblood wizarding families should enter, whereas Hufflepuff preferred that was to be arranged so that all magic children could be educated there. After a long debate, Gryffindor came up with the idea of each founder having his or her own school House, and this they did.

However, soon an argument broke out between the four, and it seemed as though the school would crumble as soon as it had begun. After many months of feuding, Slytherin left the school, and all that the feuding abated after that.

The last part of this legend is true, however much of is was purely fiction. Slytherin did not cause this feud and he did not leave because of it. In fact, the reason Slytherin left was not because of the others, but because of his own father. I know; I was there.

Slytherin had no liking for the Dark Arts, although many would claim that he did. His father, Severus, and his elder brother, Sorvolo, however, both practised the Dark Arts. Severus Slytherin visited his son in Scotland, at Hogwarts, and tried to convince him to join them and practice the Dark Arts. Salazar tried to convince Godric, Rowena and Helga to let him leave, but Godric wouldn't. Slytherin didn't listen to his friends; he left after the Chamber was completed. He had no idea that Sorvolo had decided to place a Basilisk within the chamber in order to purge the school of muggleborns. Salazar and Sorvolo were _both _Parselmouths, they could both control snakes, and it was Sorvolo who had the intense hatred of muggleborns- whom the he called mudbloods-, whereas Salazar simply mistrusted them (he believed that it was necessary to not trust those who could have given our world away).

But I digress; Slytherin left Hogwarts and travelled to the North. It was there that he met up with two old friends, Hades Hemlock and Lexis Lunaria, both of which had helped build Hogwarts, but left soon after Godric announced that the school would welcome both pureblood and _mudblood _students. Hemlock had an old acquaintance, Pandora Pyrites, who later convinced them to build another magic school. That school was Durmstrang.

Slytherin died just before Durmstrang was complete. He watched as Pyrites left Lunaria and Hemlock and built a third school, Beauxbatons. He watched at Godric died after almost twenty years as headmaster of Hogwarts, and how Helga died soon after- of a broken heart I suppose. He watched as Rowena took charge of the school and as she established the Ministry of Magic.

Slytherin knew that before he had departed, he had left his unborn son with Rowena. He had left them solely to save himself from the Dark Arts. Yes, Slytherin had saved himself, but no others…

He watched as animosity grew evermore between the four houses after Rowena's death, until at last his own house was shunned from the rest of the school; and the outside world as well.

He looked on as his true heir, one Tom Marvolo Riddle, opened the Chamber and unleashed his brother's monstrous Basilisk.

He watched as young Riddle, then known as 'Voldemort' descended deep into the darkness that he himself had run from. Voldemort believed to be carrying out Salazar's wishes, when he was, in fact, carrying out Sorvolo's.

And he watched as Voldemort gathered others of his damned house and dragged them too unto the darkness.

Now, Slytherin means darkness; they _are _the darkness; Slytherin's damned children are everything he did not wish to be.

Yes, for to be a Slytherin in days of old and to be a Slytherin in this new age… well, they are entirely different things.

And I would know… because I _am _Slytherin.


	2. Two: Voldemort

Two: Voldemort 

Many years ago, I was asked what it meant to be a Slytherin. I replied that my house was everything to me: it was- it still is.

You see, and most will not understand this, I know that Slytherin represents all the sense in the Wizarding World. Yes, Ravenclaws may be intelligent, but Slytherins are wise, and a mere ounce of wisdom is far more useful than many libraries worth of intelligence ever will be.

What I mean to say is that we Slytherins- the outcasted, the shunned, the damned, the _evil_, call us what you will - have seen much more than those of other houses. We must live by our wits alone, and on those we thrive.

We, unlike most Hufflepuffs, Gryffindors and – to some extent – Ravenclaws, have seen much of the world without rose-tinted glasses. My Death Eaters, the majority of whom are Slytherin – yes, there are a select _few _in my ranks from other houses, there is one Gryffindor, a surprising number of Hufflepuffs and numerous Ravenclaws -, know that we kill muggles because if we did not, they would kill _us_. We slaughter mudbloods because, when the war between our worlds is at its height, they will side with their muggle families rather than with their wizarding allies.

We kill not for some kind of sadistic pleasure, but because we must kill them in order to remain on the Earth. My cause has never been about racial purity, nor will it ever be: it is all about survival.

My goal is to conquer death; not just my own, but that of all purebloods within our world. And conquer death I will, because I am a Slytherin, the one true _heir _of Slytherin, and Slytherin, to me, means wisdom and survival. Slytherin, to me is everything; I _am_ Slytherin, and yet at the same time I am not. I am Lord Voldemort.


	3. Three: Lucius

Three: Lucius 

I, Lucius Sabatino Salazar Malfoy, was a Slytherin. I still am; your House stays a part of you even after you leave school.

I knew that I would be a Slytherin; my father, grandfather, great-grandfather and so on and so forth have all been members of Slytherin House. We are serpents, all of us, and we are all purebloods- well, my mother was half-elf, beautiful and almost immortal, but that doesn't really count.

But I digress. I am a Slytherin, through and through. Many say that I am evil because of my House, because of my name and because of my belief in the Dark Lord.

My father was one of the first wizards to join Lord Voldemort. He was captured by Aurors during the first war and received the Dementors kiss. I only just escaped the same fate.

I also had a twin brother, Louis. He too was a Slytherin, but Father disowned him after he married a Gryffindor. She _was _a pureblood, but she was also a blood-traitor. I think her name was Juliet Granger.

But once again I must digress. I, as a Slytherin, have much faith in my Lord. He, finally, will purge the world of the unworthy and save our kind from extinction.

The fact that we Death Eaters are almost all Slytherins does suggest that only those with enough wisdom, enough will and enough ambition could ever have the strength to do as we do. He will conquer death. Death will never claim our race, not when the muggles are dead.

Yes, I, Lucius Malfoy, am a Slytherin, and I am proud of that fact because it is we, the _evil _Slytherins who will prevent the death of our race.


	4. Four: Draco

Four: Draco 

I am Draconis Lucius Salazar Malfoy, but everyone calls me Draco. I am the 'Prince of Slytherin'; or at least, that's what everyone calls me. I am not as arrogant as I might seem; I simply act that way in order to cover up numerous events that have happened in my past.

As I just said, I am the 'Prince of Slytherin'. I am a Slytherin and a Malfoy, and many think that I am rotten to the core because of that.

I have always known that I would be a Slytherin; I mean, is it possible for someone with a name meaning 'bad-faith' to end up in Hufflepuff? Is it possible for a coward to end up in Gryffindor? Is it possible for a Malfoy to _not _be in Slytherin? We all have been. (Well, all of us who have attended Hogwarts anyway, those of us who attended Durmstrang were placed in Lunaria because of our Vampiric blood, and, in my case, elfish also).

But I digress. I am a Slytherin not because I am arrogant and _evil _as Potter and his cronies would have it; no, I am a Slytherin simply because it is the way I am.

I too follow the Dark Lord, and for the same reasons as Father does. I must follow him in order to keep our world alive. I mean, why should we have to live under rules that favour muggles even above our own kind? Why should we just submit to muggle and mudblood-kind's will? We _shouldn't _and we should never have to; that's why I follow my Lord.

So you can call us horrible, call us arrogant, call us evil, but at least we fight for what we believe. We are Slytherins, and we will _never _give up on what we know is right. Yes, we are Slytherins, and to me, Slytherin means belief.


	5. Five: Crabbe

Part Five: Crabbe

Slytherins are ambitious, cunning and witty; I am not, or at least that's what you'd be led to believe. I am Vincent Crabbe, one of Draco Malfoy's 'bodyguards', or at least that's what people think. I appear to be thicker than troll-hide: that could not be farther form the truth.

You see, I am a Slytherin, and, although I am not ambitious, I am cunning; more so, at least, than people like Malfoy, who go around pretty much telling everyone who'll listen that his father was a Death Eater, ect.

You see, we Slytherin's are in no way like the 'Golden' Gryffindors. We are not rash; we think before we act, rather like the Ravenclaws – unlike the Ravenclaws, however, it is not always possible to tell when a Slytherin is thinking. We are masters of deceitfulness, and that is why we thrive and prosper; a Slytherin's ability to hide his emotions is always why he is so powerful within any ranks.

Also we Slytherins, unlike the Gryffindors, think with our heads and not our hearts. This makes us appear very cynical to many, but really, where would you get in life if you let emotions rule over logic. You are surprised to be hearing this from me, aren't you? I'm not surprised.

You see, Slytherin himself was nothing like he appeared; and neither are we: that is what it means to be a Slytherin.

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**_Review Responses:_**

**_PurpleCarrot: I'm glad you found it interesting . I guess it is pretty interesting to speculate on how Salazar would view the members of his own House._**

**_Whispered Words: I'm glad you found it interesting . The reason I wrote it like that is becuase I don't think that it's possible for Slytherin to be as bad as he is portrayed as being._**

**_Chocolatebrowneyes: I'm glad you liked it ._**

**_Skull Bearer: Yes, I read 'Flight' soon after you reccommended it to me. I'm glad you liked this._**

**_Whispered Words (again): Well, I always thought there had to be a reason Voldemort hated muggles and muggleborns; I mean a real reason that had nothing to do with racism. _**

**_X0Toxic-Envy0X: Thanks, I'm glad you liked it._**

**_Megz (a.k.a Megzyz): Glad you liked it ._**

**_mj (a.k.a Megzyz): LOL yes, typical you Meggie. And yes, I have listened to Simple Plan, and yes they are good._**

**_Megz (a.k.a Megzyz): Man, you've reviewed this three times! Girl, you were really hyper when you wrote that review. As for the random comment about Solaris'ah Rui ; (A.N Solaris'ah Rui is a character in my Sailor Moon fic, Silver Millennium, Rui's Story). Anyways Mwgzyz, you go watch more anime . Hope you like these new chapters too._**


	6. Six: Goyle

Six: Goyle 

Slytherin House is said to be the home of all Dark Wizards. It is said by most that Slytherins are a load of snooty, manipulative little brats. We are always pushed aside in favour of other houses.

Even after I have said that little, it should be clear to you that ever since Salazar Slytherin deserted the other founders, and this school, over a thousand years ago, we of Slytherin have had nothing but bad press.

I myself am not truly regarded as being a Slytherin. That hat always makes mistakes, of course. If it had bothered to even look into my mind it would have seen that I am a Ravenclaw, not a Slytherin, but the hat judged me by my name and not my personality. That is one of the reasons why Slytherin House is home to so many of the ancient pureblood lines; the hat heard the name 'Goyle' and placed me in Slytherin, just like all of my ancestors.

Slytherin is nothing like it seems, and neither am I. I suppose that is the only way in which I fit into this House.

What would you say if I told you that I scored tenth in the year, only a few points below people like Hermione Granger and Eloise Midgen? You wouldn't believe me, would you? That's the problem with being a Slytherin; this House has been home to so many liars that no one believes a Slytherin, even when he is telling the truth.

No one would believe me if I told the truth about how I feel about this damned House. I feel as though we have been let down by society. No one wants a Slytherin working for them; they think that we are untrustworthy, simply because we come from a House which was home to many _known _Death Eaters.

No one from any other House would want Slytherins as friends either; they hate us because of events a thousand years past.

Strange, isn't it? Slytherins are shown to be the prejudiced ones when, in truth, it is the other Houses that are prejudiced against us.


	7. Seven: Pansy

Seven: Pansy 

My name is Pansy Parkinson. You'll probably have heard of me: no doubt that someone mentioned the 'bitchy Slytherin Princess' to you once.

Yes, they have dubbed me that, and, while it is true that I am the Princess of Slytherin – I _am _dating the Prince of Slytherin, after all – I am _not_ as much of a bitch as they would have you think. Now I won't say that I don't gossip about people – after all, what teenage girl doesn't? – but none of the gossip I spread is made up or malicious. I am not a complete airhead either: not like Lavender Brown or Parvati Patil – I pity Granger for having to put up with them, honestly.

You know I'm still surprised at how Parvati turned out. She was actually my friend before we started Hogwarts: you never would have guessed _that_, would you? I still am friendly with her sister Padma. It really surprised me at where she – Parvati – was placed. I would have suspected Padma to be in Ravenclaw – she always was the bookish type – but never would I have guessed that Parvati, my one time friend, would become my worst enemy; I was almost certain she'd be in Slytherin, with me. But she ended up in Gryffindor, and she ended up hating me. She seems to think that whatever friendship we once had no longer exits, or rather that it never existed in the first place.

Padma doesn't speak to her much now either – imagine that, having your own twin hate you, just because you aren't in the same Hogwarts House.

That's the one thing that both Ravenclaws and Slytherins share: we are open-minded about most things. The only reason Slytherins do not mingle much with other Houses is because they are prejudiced against us. Ravenclaw, however, is not as bad. It was like that in the time of the Founders; Ravenclaw was, apparently, Slytherin's lover.

But I digress, what I mean to tell is that Slytherins are, in general, more open minded than most, and other than that we are just _normal_, just like everyone else. And you would see that, if only you gave us a chance.


	8. Eight: Snape

Eight: Snape 

Slytherin was home of many Dark Wizards: that is a fact. Slytherin was also the home of many Light Wizards: that too is a fact, albeit a much lesser known one. Just because Lord Voldemort happened to be a Slytherin, people seem to think that all Slytherins will turn out to be prejudiced megalomaniacs. I do not care what Voldemort's excuses are; it is not right to torture and kill muggles and muggleborns – I refuse now to use the term 'Mudblood', as I would be being hypocritical if I did.

Yes I, Severus Snape, am nothing more than a half-blood. I used to be ashamed of that fact in much the same way as the Dark Lord was ashamed of his muggle father. Now I, unlike the Dark Lord, am no longer ashamed that muggle blood runs through my veins. It took my father's death to show me that I should not be ashamed of whom I am, but before that I had to play the cold-hearted, pureblooded Slytherin bastard.

I too used to be a Dark Wizard; I still am, I suppose, as I still serve the Dark Lord, albeit as a spy. But more so than that, I am Dark because I could do nothing to prevent my students from turning to the Dark Road, the road that I myself mistakenly took as a young man.

In truth, there is a reason that I took the Dark Road, and it had nothing to do with the fact that I wished to be Dark; no, it was very much the opposite. Picture this; a young man is lost within society. He does not know what will become of him. All others tell him that there is good and evil, and that he is the latter, simply because of his school House. Then someone, the Dark Lord, says that there is no such thing as good and evil, only power, and that he will have power if he joins the Dark Lord's ranks. What should he do? Accept the road of the Dark, be accepted for who he is and not shunned away? Or does he say no, and end up murdered and alone, just another nameless, evil Slytherin? What do you think?

There is always a difference between what is right and what is easy, but what would an _evil Slytherin _know of what is right in the eyes of the majority of society? We do what we think is right, we join him.

You see, it is almost as though we Slytherins have only the capability of turning to evil, but that is not the case. We could have turned out many more Light Wizards and Witches if only we had been given the chance. But we weren't given the chance, were we, and that is why so many of us have and will turn to the Dark Side; we were never given the chance to show that we of Slytherin are simply misunderstood.


	9. Nine: Bellatrix

Nine: Bellatrix 

Slytherin is the most infamous of the Houses. It always has been, and it always will be. Slytherin was a pureblood, a true pureblood; he was the one that paved the way for my master's creed and beliefs.

Slytherin is the best of the four Houses; it was – and still is – my House… my master's House… the House of my forefathers and of many more great purebloods besides. All the wizards and witches who are worth mentioning are Slytherins; that is a fact, not a matter of opinion. (Well, all bar Merlin and Morgana, both of whom lived before Hogwarts began.)

There is a reason that Slytherin is so infamous and yet so revered; we are ambitious and we are cunning: we are sly and we are opinionated: we know what we want and we know how to get it; and, of course, we are elitist. Slytherin has always been the smallest of the Houses, partially because of their fear of us, partially because of our founder's wish for only the elite to become part of _his_ House.

Grindlewald was a Slytherin, did you know that? He didn't go to Hogwarts; he went to Durmstrang. Our founder founded not only our House at Hogwarts but another House at Durmstrang also. None of the other founders did that, did they? No, they did not, and so that stands as another monument to the greatness of Lord Salazar Serpens Slytherin.

But back to the topic of Grindlewald: he too was a Slytherin, and he had enough sense to do away with mudbloods and muggles. But of course that mudblood lover Albus Dumbledore had to step in a kill him.

Grindlewald was not the only Dark Lord to come from the noble House of Slytherin. Lord Voldemort Gaunt Slytherin too came from Slytherin's noble, pure House. He is the most powerful Wizard to walk this earth since Merlin himself, so far as we all know. The Dark Lord too is trying to rid the world of mudbloods, and he, unlike Grindlewald, is succeeding. Albus Dumbledore tried to stop the Dark Lord in the way that he defeated Grindlewald, but he did not win that time. That mudblood-loving fool is now dead.

You see, we of Slytherin are proud. We are elitist and we are pure. Yes, I am a Slytherin, and I know that I will be rejoicing when we have rid this world of mudbloods, when we have trounced the other Houses, when we have won this war. And I know that we will win, because we are Slytherins.

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**_Review Response:_**

**_XOToxic-Envy0X: I'm glad you're still enjoying it. I hope you like this chapter too!_**

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	10. Ten: Narcissa

Ten: Narcissa 

'Toujours pur' is the motto of the House of Black: it means 'always pure' in French. Reading that, I would think that no one would be surprised that we Blacks have always been in Slytherin; well, all of us that matter anyway. Sirius, my bloodtraitor cousin, was a useless Gryffindor, and my _sister _Andromeda was a Ravenclaw. Useless, both of them; they were both bloodtraitors of course. Andromeda ran off with a Gryffindor mudblood, and as for Sirius, well, he was a _Gryffindor_, and I think that that says it all.

I, unlike Sirius and Andromeda, am a Slytherin. I, Narcissa Black Malfoy am in no way a bloodtraitor. I am, however, no a purity fanatic like the majority of my family. I may be a Black by blood and a Malfoy by marriage, but purity of blood does not matter to me in the way it matters to people like my sister, Bellatrix. You see, even though I hate Andromeda for what she did, it is not because she married a mudblood but because she fled from her betrothal and brought sham to our House.

Also, and this would surprise many, I refused to join Lord Voldemort. I personally disagree with his philosophy and methods, no matter how my husband tries to justify them. I see no reason to brutally slaughter mudbloods; we should just ban them from entering our world in the first place.

The way I see it, just because the pureblooded Houses of Black, Malfoy and Slytherin have spawned more fanatics than any other, it does not mean that we are all that way.

You see, though I am truly proud to be a Slytherin, I do not think that we should all be so prejudiced against mudbloods or half-bloods. Nor should we truly act as though we hate those of the Houses of Gryffindor, Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw (why, the only reason we must appear to hate them is because they would probably kill us were we not so cold).

Yes we of Slytherin are, in truth, completely misunderstood. We may all seem to be cold, callous, heartless and snobbish, however you would find that to be far from the truth if you even bothered to try and look. But of course no non-Slytherin would even try to understand us, so we must remain as we are, shunned by are peers… just as Slytherin himself once was.


	11. Eleven: The Bloody Baron

Part eleven: The Bloody Baron

To most I am simply 'The Bloody Baron', the bloodstained ghost of Slytherin House. What most fail to remember is that I did have a life before becoming a ghost, and very, very few know anything about that life, but now, after nearly half a millennia of silence, I shall tell of my past.

My name, in life, was Satanael Slytherin. I was the only son of Azazel Slytherin, and the last of our line that bore our founder's name. I lived a life of the Dark Arts, honouring a tradition that we had held before the birth of Slytherin himself: it helped me greatly to trick my way through life, but it was also to be my downfall.

My wife, Gabrielle le Noir Slytherin, had never approved of my use of the Dark Arts, and it was that, combined with the insanity that befell her after a meeting with a dementor, eventually led her to kill me.

It was during the late sixteenth century, in the November of 1566 if I recall correctly, that I left my first life, my mortal life, to begin this second, immortal life as a ghost.

She murdered me and six of our seven children before turning her wand on herself. Only our youngest daughter, Serafina, survived. She later married one Henry Gaunt, and began the line of our House from which the Dark Lord himself is descended.

I have haunted the halls of Hogwarts ever since, only ever speaking to the Dark Lord himself and to the Grey Lady (who is, herself, a descendent of Gabrielle's eldest brother and the only member of the House of le Noir to have become anything other than a Slytherin.)

But what I meant to say is not only that, but this. Yes, I am of the House of Slytherin in more ways than one, and I too have thoughts on what being a Slytherin truly means. You see, to me, Slytherin means deceit, cunning, ambition and persistence, for it was all of those things that led me through my life and, eventually, to my death and my unrest.


	12. Twelve: Millicent

Twelve: Millicent 

I had dreams once, many dreams, but of course it goes without saying that all of these dreams will forever remain unfulfilled. As a child, I dreamed of becoming a dancer, I dreamed of the stage and of music. My mother, a half-blood herself, was all for it, but my father, a pureblood, told me that there was nothing to be gained from disgraceful muggle professions. So of course that dream was quashed, because I had to follow my father's wishes, just as my mother did.

We have always had to follow father's wishes, always. I am only in Slytherin because my father told me that I had to be no matter where the Hat tried to place me. I should have been a Gryffindor you know; I should have dressed in red and gold, colours of the warm day, not green and silver, colours of the cold night-time. I should have gone up to a tower each night to sleep, not been stuck down here in the dungeons. I should have been a friend to Hermione Granger, not a bitter enemy. But alas, it was not to be, no matter how much I, as well as others, willed it; for father said that I had to be a Slytherin, and if father said something then it was done.

Slytherin is cold, dank and dark, not only literally but metaphorically also. Slytherins will never have true friends, for if we are foolish enough to open up to anyone then we would just be laughed at and pushed away again, so I, as a Slytherin, face a future alone. Slytherins will never find true love; we simply have to marry whomever our parents decide is best. Slytherins will not get ahead on our powers and abilities but because people are too scared of us to deny us anything.

You see, people would think that Slytherin is the House I always wished to be in, the one I fitted best into, when, in fact, the opposite is the truth. Slytherin is everything I hate, everything I fear… everything that I have been forced to become.


	13. Thirteen: Daphne

Part thirteen: Daphne 

What _are _the characteristics required for Slytherin House? I often find myself wondering just that question. It says cunning and ambition, which are obviously why I am here, but what about the others? Maybe narcissistic is a quality required for Slytherin House, for there _do _seem an unfair amount of egocentric idiots here. Or maybe megalomania, for some people here are so ambitious and power-hungry that the word 'ambition' is too weak to describe them… yes, that could be it.

I myself know exactly why I am here. Cunning and ambition have always been my strong points; I have wanted to be either Mistress of Magic or head of the Magical Law Enforcement office ever since I was about four-years-old. I know I seem a complete space-case (like Slytherin's answer to Luna Lovegood), but where will you get in life if you always show your true personality? Exactly, I knew you'd see it my way.

But how to describe Slytherin… I still don't really know. You see, the only thing we all have in common in this House is the fact that we are thought to be people whom we aren't. But then again, that can't be counted as a trait… can it? Yes, our ability to lie and to live behind facades is something which all of Slytherin can do, so I suppose that Slytherin, just like the serpent, is all about slyness and trickery. Yes, that's it.


	14. Fourteen: Theodore

Part Fourteen: Theodore 

The true nature of Slytherin House is not something that anyone can truly comprehend, for there seems to be only one trait that each and every Slytherin shares, and that is our ability to become invisible. Not invisible in a literal sense, but in a metaphorical one. You see, over the years I have mastered the art of invisibility to the point of perfection. I had to make myself seem invisible even before I begun school, for I had to find some way to avoid my father when he was in one of his rages, especially after mother died. Needless to say it almost always worked.

I am as invisible to the majority of people in Hogwarts, students and teachers alike, as the Thesterals are. I am only seen by those who know I exist in the first place; nobody else would bother to look.

This invisibility has befallen most of us Slytherins, no matter whether we wished for it or not. People like Malfoy show themselves up in front of the rest of the school, and therefore every non-Slytherin presumes that we are all arrogant gits like he is: that, however, is as far from the truth as you could get.

So yes, I know about Slytherin House better even than most other Slytherins, and, to me, to be a Slytherin means to be invisible to most of the world.


	15. Fifteen: Blaise

Part Fifteen: Blaise 

Do you know the old saying, 'silence is golden'? Well, that saying is wrong, for silence is not golden – since when have Gryffindors, pranksters that they are, even known the meaning of the word 'silence'? No, silence is not golden; it is silver.

You see, we of Slytherin are silent snakes – well, most of us are anyway. We are the only calm within the storm that is Hogwarts, the only ones with clear enough minds to comprehend the truth.

It is probably because of our silence and our coldness that we have been shunned by the rest of society for so long: maybe, if someone had spoken up and defended the honour of our House long ago, we would not be shunned as we are. But it is too late now to be thinking of what might have been.

We of Slytherin are ambitious and cunning, I do not deny that, but by far our most prevalent qualities are our silence, invisibility and ability to observe the happenings around us. All of those combined take us to the heights of society; it had nothing to do with blackmail and 'evilness' as many non-Slytherins would claim.

As for what Slytherin means to me? It means observance, open-mindedness and the ability to accept the truth. But most of all it means silence; for each and every one of us is, in truth, a silent snake, waiting in the grass of the jungle of life to strike the unwitting and unwary. Yes indeed, silence is not golden; silence is silver.


	16. Sixteen: Regulus

Part Sixteen: Regulus 

I, Regulus Black, am a Slytherin, but not by choice. Although I was pressured to become a Slytherin by my family, I did not wish for it. They were sure I'd become a Slytherin because of my ambition – my name itself means 'little king' – but then again, they'd expected Sirius to become a Slytherin and he'd ended up as a Gryffindor. However, with me, unlike with Sirius, my parents were right; I became a Slytherin; no matter how much I begged the Hat not to put me there, it refused to listen.

I must admit that I was indeed ambitious – I always had been – but I never agreed with the Dark Lord's principles. However, when my parents said that I had to become a Death Eater or else I'd be killed, I followed their wishes; unlike Sirius, the brave Gryffindor who would have refused to join the Dark Lord even at the cost of his own life. I soon realised that what I was doing wasn't right and therefore betrayed the Dark Lord… at the cost of my own life. I had shown Gryffindor bravery – and, maybe, stupidity – in the last moments of my life; it had taken me until the last moments of my life to finally betray my parents and develop a mind of my own. Alas it came too late.

You see, Slytherins are supposed to be ambitious and cunning, and I was not at all like that, no matter what the Sorting Hat said. No, no matter what the Hat decided all those years ago, no matter that it said Slytherin was the only House that fit me, I believed, and still do believe that Slytherin is not my true House. No, no matter what others would say, I know the truth, and the truth is that Slytherin is everything I am not.


	17. Epilogue

Epilogue

Slytherin means to be cunning and sly, to be ambitious and knowledgeable, just as they say, but it also means much, much more. Slytherin means to be subservient and cold, silent and invisible, to have to appear aloof to the matters that have an effect on everything and everybody else. Slytherin means holding up the honour of your bloodline even if you know you do not belong there. Slytherin means to live a lie, to tell yourself that you're someone you're not. Slytherin means to be unheard and unacknowledged. But most of all, Slytherin means to be misunderstood, just like the very founder of the House was.

At least that's what we have been told by some people. It is up to you to decide what being a Slytherin means to _you_.


End file.
